Top 5 iPad Apps

The iPad App Store is growing steadily, with over 10,000 apps for the slate now available. There are a lot of good apps for the iPad, and since buying one on day one I have tried quite a few of them. My top 5 apps change regularly, but no matter which apps are on the list at any given time they add a lot of value to my usage of the iPad.

Lists like this are heavily dependent on how the list maker uses the iPad, and especially what kind of tasks are performed regularly. That’s certainly true with my list, so if you have your own app that is on your top five share it in the comments.

1. DocsToGo Premium. This office suite has become my go-to app for working with documents of all flavors. It offers superb compatibility with Office documents, and also works with my two cloud services — SugarSync and Google Docs. The application uses the iPad interface to great effect making it easy to work with documents of any stripe. $11.99.

2. ToDo. I use my iPad to keep up with my To-do list, and Todo is my iPad app of choice to do that. It syncs with my online Toodledo account, and gives me a lot of control over how I track my list. I detailed how I use ToDo each day in this article. $4.99.

3. Bulletin XL. I spend a lot of time keeping up with hundreds of RSS feeds as part of my work, and a good app to do that is precious. My RSS reader of choice currently is Bulletin, as it presents a simple user interface and tight Google Reader integration. I have recently been giving Reeder a try so no telling if Bulletin remains on the list in the future. $2.99.

4. iThoughtsHD. This mind mapping app is still one of the most heavily used apps on my iPad. It is a great mapping/ outlining tool and lets me organize my thoughts on any project with ease. I have covered iThoughts a bit as it has been on my top list for a while, and have a review available. $7.99.

5. Air Display. I have gotten more use out of this app than I ever thought I would. It turns the iPad into a wireless external monitor for my MacBook, giving me a mobile two monitor setup. It works so well it still impresses me every time I use it. You can see Air Display in action in my video. $9.99.

That’s my current list of the five top apps I use on the iPad. I do a lot of app experimentation and this list changes quite regularly. Some of these apps have been on my list for a while but there are a few new ones. What’s your favorite?